Aplasca Dismissed From Service

Former Senate sergeant-at-arms Mao Aplasca has been officially dismissed from government service in connection with the May 13 shooting incident at the Senate, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said on Saturday, July 4.

Speaking on his dzRH radio program, Remulla confirmed that he had signed the resolution last June 29 penalizing the former police officer.

Aplasca was at the center of the May 13 chaos when he fired warning shots at the Senate’s glass windows, causing panic among those inside the building. 

The gunfire was directed toward National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents positioned at the nearby Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) building, who were reportedly deployed to arrest Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, an International Criminal Court (ICC) suspect.

The ombudsman initially placed the 62-year-old Aplasca, former director of the PNP Aviation Security Group, under a six-month preventive suspension without pay on May 15. 

However, its implementation hit a wall when then-Senate president Alan Peter Cayetano questioned the directive and the Senate refused to receive the order. 

When Cayetano was replaced by Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian as Senate president, the chamber formally replaced Aplasca with retired Police Major Gen. Alfredo Sotto Corpuz. 

Remulla said the Office of the Ombudsman is leaving it to the current Senate leadership to officially implement the dismissal order, which is among the gravest administrative penalties for a public official.

Remulla noted that his office would publish the full resolution to prevent disinformation and provide the public clarity on the legal grounds for the dismissal.

Aside from the administrative dismissal, Aplasca is also facing a criminal complaint for obstruction of justice before the ombudsman, alongside Senators Cayetano and Robin Padilla, in relation to the May 13 incident.  

The three were ordered to submit their counter-affidavits on June 24.